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The American pastor singer-songwriter Don Moen wrote a song called ‘I will sing’. It tells the story of someone who is struggling to pray and God seems ‘a million miles’ away. The person digs deep into their faith whilst relying on God’s grace and sings: I will sing, I will praise, even in my darkest hour He said he never intended to release the song because he felt it was too honest, questioned God and people wanted praise songs to sing. He sang it to his wife and a friend and they encouraged him to put it on the I will Sing album. The song reflects how many people feel when things don’t go right. The devil is happy when we feel God is a million miles away. God wants us to tell him how we feel; he also says through Habakkuk that whilst we must be honest we must always do something else as well: “Though the fig tree does not bud The idea of giving praise when things are going badly is the opposite to what we would naturally want to do at the time. Paul writes that we should always be joyful, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances. [2] Why do we need to give thanks in every circumstance? It seems that it’s an important part of the heavenly weaponry in keeping our eyes on the light, defeating the enemy and moving towards victory. To give thanks when things are good is to glorify God. By doing this we put him, not me, first and show appreciation for what we have. Giving thanks when things are difficult shows the depth of our faith. We walk by faith not by sight, we trust in his love for us and that he is in control. The second verse of I will sing goes: Lord it's hard for me to see all the thoughts The faith that pleases in Hebrews 11 is telling us to move beyond being managed by emotions, which in a storm tossed world, blow us all over the place. The faith of Hebrews is urging us to move beyond feelings to the stability of depending on God. Being thankful is a driving force of hope based on a deep faith no matter how difficult the circumstance, we are guaranteed God is able to take any mess and provide superabundantly. Hope is: Powerful Hope is powerful When we’re in a hole there is only one direction we can look. Marj’s story and Hebrews remind us that as we walk this walk of faith and as difficulty comes on our journey, we cling to the nature of our great God. Hope is exciting. We have a part to play as we take our hopes to God, seek his wisdom, get on with the practical stuff and wait for something to happen. Hope is powerful because we believe God is good and God is working for good and there is no circumstance that cannot change. The devil would have you believe this isn't true. He says things like: Why don’t you give up? Why don’t you just accept that this is never going to change! You’re useless you’ll never make a difference! It’s your fault it happened so they’ll always hate you! Don’t listen. The devil is a liar! When you make a home for hope it will make you think differently, look at things differently, even influence what you say. Hope opens the door to joy and joy brings strength that comes from God. Hope believes nothing is impossible “For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.” Luke 1.37 There is nothing that cannot be changed. The only thing that can’t change is God: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].” James 1:17 When things are changing we need to hang on to his ‘unchangingness’. On our journey of faith when the skies darken and winds of change try to blow us off the path, we lean against the wind and we keep our eyes looking forward to the light that we know will never go out. Hope is waiting with confidence God has a waiting room that we all visit at some time. On the door hangs the sign, “Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.” Psalm 46.10 First, keep praying. Give thanks to God that he’s heard your prayer, knows what’s going on and is in control. Tell him that you’re trusting in his leading on this.In a waiting room I tend to do things. I’ll read a magazine, look at my phone, talk with someone (ok maybe that’s going a bit too far). Waiting isn’t about doing nothing. Waiting is action. But it has to be the right action. Don’t worry if you can’t put all this into words. Difficult times can leave us so weary that we don’t know what to say. The Holy Spirit knows your heart and steps in on your behalf.[3] Secondly, be patient and show that you’re seeking his heart not his hand. Say that your hope is only in him, he knows what you need better than you do and that you trust his timing. Thank him for what you already have that is good. Thirdly be confident in his faithfulness. Thank him for what he’s going to do, that he has plans for your well being and expect that he is going to change things. Remember that God can do far more than you can imagine. Lastly, don’t give up! We can’t hurry things up by being grumpy, impatient or trying to take over. Waiting is a part of being made perfect. Even the Bible Oscar winners had to wait. Abraham had to wait 25 years, Joseph waited 12 years and Moses waited 40 years. I heard somebody saying Jesus tried to jump start things and even he had to wait! He was 12 years old when he went on his annual visit to Jerusalem with his parents. They realise when they get home that he hasn’t hitched a ride with the caravan. Can you imagine what went through Mary and Joseph’s head? Oh my goodness. Why didn’t you check? Anyway whatever they said to each other, they went back to Jerusalem having tried all their relatives and friends and eventually find him in the temple, talking with the teachers. Now the Bible tells us those listening were impressed with what he had to say. Not so mum and dad. Did Jesus get a flea in his ear? Who knows but we don’t hear from him for another 14 years. So maybe even Jesus can’t rush God’s plan? I love the way God gives us pictures to help us understand how the kingdom works. For example, the change from pond bug to dragonfly helps us see how we go from mortal to immortal. The seasons show us how everything grows and dies and then comes back to life. There’s even a picture of how it works during those times of waiting. The sun comes up every morning, not suddenly but gradually. What we do is go down have breakfast, get washed, put on the stuff from the ‘look younger every day bottle’ and then get dressed. I then pull back the blinds and see it’s light. We do what we need to do before the dawn actually arrives. The sun rises little by little. It happens over time and like the sunrise things don’t always happen suddenly when you’re waiting on God. Sometimes though – and think of this – it may be that God is waiting on you! Maybe God needs to get something in your heart before he will put it in your hand. Hope waits patiently and knows that God is working on it. The faith that pleases God is a faith that trusts what he is doing is the best thing to do. That means in first and second place we herald the faithfulness of our great God and in third place we look for the answer. God reminds us what our focus should be through the psalmist who says: “There is nothing I desire more as long as I have you.”[4] And through his own son who says” “Seek first the kingdom of God”[5] from Walking in Faith |